Local Runner Fears Lack of Talent and Discipline Will Dash His Olympic Dreams
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While the fate of this year’s Tokyo Games remains in question, one local man is looking to Paris 2024 and worried that he may never realize his Olympic dreams, merely because of his near-total lack of athleticism, grit, and discipline.
“It really sucks,” said Gary Wright, 22, during a Zoom interview from his home in Boulder, Colorado. “Ever since I was a kid, my one goal was to someday make it to the Olympics, which is like the world championships of track and field.”
“It’s such a bummer to think that I could be shut out simply because I’m not talented and hardworking enough to run at that level, and also because I have a severe lack of discipline.”
Wright said he’s been a runner since age 12, when he ran his first 5K and demonstrated no real aptitude for the sport, finishing third from last.
“After that,” he said, “I was hooked.”
Over the next 10 years, Wright would run a few more races and train here and there, when he felt like it. In high school, he joined the track team and specialized in the 5,000 meters, where his PR went from 18:43, in his freshman year, to another 18:43, clocked in his junior year.
After high school, he would go on to record an 18:52 5K on the road. He would also begin to eye the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, circling the date of the Games on his calendar and running as much as three times a week in preparation—sadly, to no avail.
“I didn’t qualify for Tokyo,” Wright said, “because of COVID and also an absence of natural ability and willingness to put in the work.”
“Mostly COVID, though,” he added.
Now, Wright said, as he approaches another birthday and looks to the future, it’s hard to remain upbeat about his Olympic dream.
“It seem so unfair,” he said. “I’ve been training so hard.”
“Well, I mean, not that hard. But still.”
